The plants of nitrogen holding Ostchem produced 1.8 million tons of mineral fertilizers in 2024, down 13% from 2023, according to a press release from Group DF International’s corporate communications department.
According to the report, Cherkasy-based Azot maintained its production level at 1.4 million tons in 2024, while Rivne Azot reduced its output by 22% and produced 407 thousand tons, down from 528 thousand tons a year earlier.
According to Group DF International, the key products produced by Ostchem’s plants were ammonium nitrate – 760.2 thousand tons (41.9% of the total), UAN – 506.7 thousand tons (27.9%), urea – 401.9 thousand tons (22.2%), and ammonia – 75 thousand tons (4.1%).
The reasons for the decline in production were low grain prices on global markets, power outages, the ongoing war and imports of cheap, low-quality fertilizers.
“Ukrainian farmers are going through difficult times, and the margins of their businesses have fallen significantly. This affects the domestic demand for mineral fertilizers – sometimes priority was given to cheaper fertilizers of dubious quality, which were imported en masse last year. We play the long game, and even in the most difficult times we ensure high international quality of our products and 100% fulfillment of our obligations. Even during the periods of forced shutdowns of Rivne Azot due to power outages, these business values remained unchanged, as Ukrainian farmers could see,” said Sergiy Pavlyuchuk, Chief Operating Officer of Ostchem’s nitrogen business.
The holding reported that in 2024, the average annual capacity utilization of Ostchem did not exceed 70%. Uncontrolled imports did not allow Ukrainian enterprises to operate at full capacity.
“Unfortunately, we were forced to cut staff and optimize costs. According to my estimates, the decline in the chemical industry was about 10%, and this is the result of growing imports and ineffective industrial policy,” Pavliuchuk said.
He added that in 2025, Ostchem has adapted to the military business environment and will continue to focus on developing new industrial sites, energy efficiency, ensuring stable operations and improving product quality in the new environment.
“The key objective for 2025 is to ensure production sustainability in the current unstable energy supply environment, reduce production risks, and replace imports with better quality. Our long-term strategic priority remains the same: import substitution and, consequently, an increase in market share. We will continue to invest in the production of the most popular fertilizers and expand our product line. First of all, we are talking about investment projects related to the launch of urea and industrial gases production,” summarized Pavliuchuk.
Ostchem is a nitrogen holding of Dmitry Firtash’s Group DF that unites the largest mineral fertilizer producers in Ukraine. Since 2011, it has included Rivne Azot and Cherkasy Azot, as well as Sievierodonetsk Azot and Stirol, which are out of operation and located in the occupied territories.
Cherkasy Azot PrJSC (Cherkasy, Ukraine) is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises. The design production capacity is 962.7 thousand tons per year of ammonia, 970 thousand tons per year of ammonium nitrate, 891.6 thousand tons of urea, and 1 million tons per year of UAN.
Rivne Azot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical companies in Western Ukraine. On April 12, 2024, Group DF and South Korean Hyundai Engineering signed an agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
In October-December 2024, state-owned Ukreximbank, Oschabank, and Ukrgasbank (all based in Kyiv) issued loans from two to five years worth about UAH 2.04 billion in the equivalent to five city councils at floating rates, according to the Ministry of Finance.
According to this information, Ukreximbank issued the most loans during this period: two in foreign currency and three in hryvnia.
In particular, in late October and early November last year, the state-owned bank financed the Brovary City Council for EUR 2.2 million at a floating rate of EURIBOR 6M + 3.58% and the Stryi City Council (Lviv region) for EUR 850 thousand at a rate of EURIBOR 6M + 3.63%. In both cases, it is specified that the interest rate, according to the terms of the agreement, cannot exceed 8%. Both loans were issued for five years with a grace period during the first year.
In December, Exim also issued three loans in the national currency: UAH 200 million at UIRD 3M +3.03% to Zaporizhzhia City Council, UAH 125 million to Mukachevo City Council at a slightly higher rate of UIRD 3M +4.73%, and UAH 16.96 million to Sheptytska City Council (Lviv region) at UIRD 3M +4.41%. Mukachevo City Council received a loan for a year, while Sheptytsky and Zaporizhzhia City Councils received loans for five years, with a grace period of up to a year for the former and up to a year and a half for the latter.
The agreements also state that at the time of issuance, these floating rates were 16.3% for Zaporizhzhia, 17.45% for Sheptytska, and 18% for Mukachevo, and should not exceed 21%, 23%, and 25% per annum, respectively.
In turn, at the end of December 2024, Oschadbank issued UAH 840 million to the Lviv City Council under UIRD 3M +3.0%, with the rate being reviewed quarterly. The loan was issued for five years, with a grace period of two years.
This state-owned bank also provided two loans in November: UAH 500 million to the Dnipro City Council at a variable rate with quarterly review of UIRD 3M +2.97%, and UAH 120.8 million to the Kamianske City Council (Dnipropetrovska oblast) at a fixed rate of 13.5% p.a. for the first year and UIRD 3M +3.0% from the second year with quarterly review. Both loans were issued for a five-year term with a 12-month grace period.
Under the terms of the three loan agreements, the interest rate cannot exceed 22% in all cases.
At the end of November 2024, the state-owned Ukrgasbank financed the Dnipro City Council for UAH 100 million: the first year the fixed rate is 13.5% per annum, and from the second year onwards, the floating rate UIRD 12M +3%, but not more than 23%. The loan was issued for a period of 5 years, of which one year is a grace period.
Dnipro Metallurgical Plant (DMZ), a part of DCH Steel of businessman Aleksandr Yaroslavsky’s DCH Group, paid UAH 498.9 million in taxes in 2024, down 24.1% from UAH 657 million in 2023.
According to DCH Steel’s corporate newspaper on Thursday, in 2024, DMZ paid UAH 196.7 million in value added tax, UAH 92.9 million in land rent, UAH 88.1 million in unified social tax, and UAH 77.3 million in personal income tax.
In addition, Sukha Balka mine (Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovska oblast), which is also part of Aleksandr Yaroslavskyi’s DCH group, paid UAH 404.5 million in taxes. The most significant payments in the mine’s payment structure are rent for subsoil use – UAH 162.1 million, personal income tax – UAH 117.3 million, and unified social tax – UAH 76.1 million.
In 2024, DMZ and Sukha Balka mine paid a total of UAH 903.4 million in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels.
As reported, in the first half of 2024, DMZ paid UAH 292 million in taxes, including UAH 129 million in VAT, UAH 28 million in income tax, UAH 43 million in unified social tax, UAH 38 million in personal income tax and UAH 54 million in other taxes.
The total amount of taxes paid by Sukha Balka Mine in this period amounted to UAH 167 million. In particular, it includes rent for the use of subsoil for the extraction of minerals (iron ore) – UAH 80 million, unified social tax – UAH 37 million, personal income tax – UAH 34 million, and other taxes – UAH 16 million.
In 2023, DMZ paid more than UAH 657 million in taxes, up 64% compared to 2022. In the structure of payments to the budgets of all levels, the largest amount of value added tax was UAH 277.5 million.
Income tax amounted to UAH 122 million, and unified social tax, rent and other contributions amounted to UAH 257 million.
DMZ specializes in the production of steel, cast iron, rolled products and products made from them. On March 1, 2018, DCH Group signed an agreement to buy DMZ from Evraz.
Sukha Balka mine is one of the leading mining companies in Ukraine. It produces iron ore by underground mining. It includes Yubileynaya and Frunze mines. DCH Group acquired the mine from Evraz Group in May 2017.
“Nibulon is now one of the three largest grain exporters in Ukraine and has been profitable for two and a half years, with EBITDA of approximately $68 million in 2024, Andriy Vadatursky, owner of one of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, JV Nibulon LLC, told NV in an interview.
He noted that this figure is slightly lower than the agricultural holding planned due to difficulties in the second half of the year, and added that in a few days he will have the exact figure of financial performance for 2024.
Commenting on the information about the increase in the share of Nibulon’s own fleet in 2024 from 26% to 55%, and the volume of transportation from 278 thousand tons to 404 thousand tons, Vadatursky reminded that the company was built on investments in alternative ways of delivering products, in particular, in water transport. Accordingly, elevators were built on the Dnipro River and the Southern Bug River.
“Now all this is standing still. Kherson is under fire, Mykolaiv is closed. The fleet has nowhere to work. More than 100 ships are blocked. Some elevators, even in the occupied territory, are left without water. The
Kakhovka dam was broken in May 2023. The prospect of returning was taken away from us. I can’t imagine that the river (transportation by the Dnipro) will work for 5-10 years, even after the victory,” he said.
To solve this problem, Nibulon leased vehicles from Scania (Sweden), increased the number of vehicles and, of course, optimized its operations to use its own vehicles as much as possible.
“We have 138 new vehicles in total. We have purchased about 70 vehicles, I think, for EUR 17 million. Denmark also helped us. They take care of Mykolaiv region. For example, we got a loan from EIFO. Denmark gave us a 14-year loan for agriculture. (…) We received about EUR12.5 million. We purchased German machinery,” said the owner of the agricultural holding.
Mr. Vadatursky added that foreign investors are extremely cautious about investing in Ukraine, while bureaucratic Europe is very slow to change course and spends a lot of time on simple things.
JV Nibulon LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries. In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever volume of 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion in 2022 exceeded $416 million.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has created a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines, and was forced to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
Oil prices remained in the red on Wednesday after the publication of the US Department of Energy’s weekly report on energy reserves in the country.
Commercial oil inventories in the US last week increased by 3.46 million barrels to 415.13 million barrels, the Energy Department reported. Gasoline stocks increased by 2.96 million barrels, distillate stocks decreased by 4.99 million barrels.
The cost of March futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 18:00 hours is $77.3 per barrel, which is $0.19 (0.25%) lower than at the close of the previous trading.
March futures for WTI during trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) decreased in price by $0.36 (0.49%) to $73.41 per barrel.
Traders’ attention is still focused on the actions of US President Donald Trump, who intends to impose a 25 percent duty on imports from Canada, a major supplier of oil to the US market, starting February 1.
“The oil market continues to dance to the rhythm of Trump’s tariff orchestra, with the focus on the duties for Canada that will take effect this Saturday,” said Ole Hansen, who is responsible for commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Traders are also waiting for news from OPEC+. Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev said on Wednesday that a meeting at the level of OPEC+ representatives is planned in the near future to discuss, among other things, the US plans to increase oil production.
As of January 29, Ukraine exported 25.353 mln tonnes of grains and pulses since the beginning of 2024/25 marketing year (July 2024 – June 2025), of which 3.121 mln tonnes were shipped this month, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported citing the data of the State Customs Service.
It is noted that as of January 30 last year, the total shipments amounted to 23.146 million tons, including 4.582 million tons in January.
In the current season, Ukraine has already exported 10.7 mln tonnes of wheat (9.027 mln tonnes in 2023/24 MY), 2.064 mln tonnes of barley (1.4 mln tonnes), 10.8 thsd tonnes of rye (1 thsd tonnes), and 12.166 mln tonnes of corn (12.465 mln tonnes).
As of January 29, the total exports of Ukrainian flour in the current season are estimated at 43.3 thsd tonnes (52 thsd tonnes in 2023/24 MY), including 39.9 thsd tonnes of wheat (48.6 thsd tonnes).
